Criticism of the patent system

The major criticism of the patent system
lies in the apparent creation of a monopoly. When an inventor isgranted exclusive economic control of his invention, competition is
hindered. As a result, this stifles capitalism and also provides anexpensive but lower quality product.[6]

Secondly, a concept known as the "tragedy of the
anticommons" presents a deeper problem in patenting. This theory wasestablished by Michael Heller and Rebecca Eisenberg in a 1998
publication of "Science."[7]In essence, their paper stated that
innovations to patented inventions would be hindered due to theadditional costs of respecting royalties from the original patent. As
a result, the societal benefits due to innovations of current productswould be inhibited.[8]

Figure 1: First
patent issued by United States [10]

History of patents: from ancient greece to
nanotechnology

"Before [the adoption of the United States
Constitution], any man might instantly use what another had invented;
so that the inventor had no special advantage from his owninvention. The patent system changed this; secured to the inventor,
for a limited time, the exclusive use of his invention; and therebyadded the fuel of interest to the fire of genius, in the discovery and
production of new and useful things."-Abraham Lincoln, Second lectureon discoveries and inventions, February 11, 1859

Patenting has a very lengthy history; this tradition
began in a rudimentary form in ancient Greek cities. However, it wasnot until 15th century Venice that patents in today's sense were
issued. This Venetian law was defined as the Venetian Statute of 1474and called for an invention's "legal protection against potentialinfringers."[9] Over time, patenting evolved throughout Europe. In theUnited Kingdom, for example, the King or Queen was given the executive
power to issue "letters patent" that awarded certain people monopoliesover specific goods or services. Then, in 1790, a revolutionary
breakthrough in the patenting process occurred when the United Statesestablished the Patent Commission of the U.S. The first patent (Figure
1) was awarded by this commission in this same year. [11]The most
important facet of this patent system was that it recognized by lawthat an inventor had an "intrinsic" right to make money off of his or
her discovery. Previously, this right was not intrinsic but ratherindividually given by a monarchal power.[12] Our founding fatherscreated this specific system to allow capitalism, the backbone of
America, to flourish. This important distinction in the United Statespatent system is depicted in Article I, Section 8 of the
Constitution:

"Congress shall have the power...to promote the
progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times toauthors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings
and discoveries."

Over time, after several amendments to the
original Patent Commission, the United States Patent Office wasofficially created in 1802. From this point, hundreds of thousands of
patents were given out over the course of the next two centuries.[13]

fullerene is a bucky ball aka Carbon 60 molecule. It was name by the architect Fuller. He design the geodesic dome. it resembles a soccer ball.

Tarell

what is the actual application of fullerenes nowadays?

Damian

That is a great question Damian. best way to answer that question is to Google it. there are hundreds of applications for buck minister fullerenes, from medical to aerospace. you can also find plenty of research papers that will give you great detail on the potential applications of fullerenes.

Tarell

Join the discussion...

what is the Synthesis, properties,and applications of carbon nano chemistry

Yeah, it is a pain to say the least. You basically have to heat the substarte up to around 1000 degrees celcius then pass phosphene gas over top of it, which is explosive and toxic by the way, under very low pressure.